Exotic Objects
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The Relativistic Jet of Quasar 3C 273
The bright quasar 3C 273 has a large jet that is visible in optical light, extending some 200,000 light years from the quasar itself. At 3C 273's great distance of over 2 billion light years the jet appears only 23 arc-seconds long in the sky, extending towards the SW. To the left is a comparison with an image form the Hubble Space Telescope, showing the jet in high resolution and revealing its detailed structure.
Click here to see the spectrum of 3C 273 captured with a simple diffraction grating, and its red-shift and distance calculated using the Hydrogen emission lines.
Image details:
Date: 10th April 2022
Exposure: Luminance 24x300s, 2 hours @ -25C
Telescope: Homebuilt 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand
